Mar 4, 2011

Roach to Junaid Siddique, no run, good length ball on middle stump, Siddique is solid in defence, plays it back to the bowler

4.6

Roach to Junaid Siddique, 1 wide, short ball down leg side, Siddique tries to pull but the ball is too far away

4.5

Roach to Junaid Siddique, 2 runs, short of a length on the hips, Siddique glances the ball towards fine leg

4.4

Roach to Junaid Siddique, no run, short of a length on off stump, played off the back foot towards point

4.3

Roach to Junaid Siddique, FOUR, shot, the length was too full on middle and off. Siddique moved forward and played a punchy drive straight down the ground. The fielder at mid-off flew to his left but the ball beat his dive

4.2

Roach to Junaid Siddique, no run, fuller length on leg and middle, Siddique defends on the front foot

4.1

Roach to Junaid Siddique, 2 runs, short ball without much room to play the pull but Siddique swivels and plays a short-arm pull towards long leg

Sammy to Mushfiqur Rahim, no run, good length and rather straight. Mushfiqur gets behind the line and defends

3.5

Sammy to Mushfiqur Rahim, no run, nudged off the pads towards square leg

3.4

Sammy to Mushfiqur Rahim, no run, defended on the back foot on the off side

Mushfiqur Rahim, the most talkative wicketkeeper in international cricket, is at the crease. Thomas is also pretty talkative.

3.3

Sammy to Imrul Kayes, OUT, caught behind! Short of a length but closer to the body outside off stump. Kayes stays in his crease, moves on to the back foot and pokes at the ball with an open face. Tentative shot with no real purpose and the outside edge is taken by Thomas

Imrul Kayes c †Thomas b Sammy 5 (8b 0x4 0x6) SR: 62.50

3.2

Sammy to Imrul Kayes, no run, defended on the back foot towards the off side

3.1

Sammy to Junaid Siddique, 1 run, short and wide outside off and Siddique slaps the ball fearfully hard towards cover where Bravo stops the ball

Roach to Junaid Siddique, no run, fuller ball and on a straighter line, Siddique comes forward and drives straight. The fielder at mid-on runs to his right to cut it off

0.5

Roach to Junaid Siddique, FOUR, another edge but this brings a huge roar. Siddique's slash flies over the slips and races to the third-man boundary. That was short of a length and wide outside off again

0.4

Roach to Junaid Siddique, no run, defended on the front foot on the off side

Junaid Siddique is the new batsman.

0.3

Roach to Tamim Iqbal, OUT, a hush falls over the Shere Bangla as Tamim departs for a duck. The ball was fuller and wider outside off stump and Tamim, who let the previous two go, chased this. He went really hard at the ball, aiming to lash it through cover, but ended up nicking it to second slip, where Sammy caught it. And look at those celebrations ... massive wicket

Tamim Iqbal c Sammy b Roach 0 (3b 0x4 0x6) SR: 0.00

0.2

Roach to Tamim Iqbal, no run, and this ball dies as Tamim shoulders arms once again and bounces just in front of the wicketkeeper. Thomas and the slips come up a step or two.

Two slips in place.

0.1

Roach to Tamim Iqbal, no run, short of a length outside off stump, not much bounce on that one, Tamim watches it slant across him and lets it go

Tamim takes guard. The din is deafening, as the pre-match anticipation all boils own to this moment. Roach is pawing the ground at the top of his run-up, bowling over the wicket. He's wearing a huge white watch, by the way.

14.25: The teams are lining up for their national anthems. Well West Indies don't have a 'national anthem' so the words of 'Rally around the West Indies' ring around the Shere Bangla.

Amar Shonar Bangla, sung proudly by the thousands in Mirpur, is the Bangladesh anthem. And we're ready for game time.

"A huge Aussie fan, with a soft spot for the Windies, but I would really like to see Bangalesh win this one and march through deep into the tournament. Al Hasan a top captain and one of the best cricketers in the world!!!" says Ben.

14.15: "Today is the day of Bangladesh. They need to do it again what they did in the West indies tour. Good luck boys," cheers Fahim, who will do well to remember that this West Indies team is not depleted by players on strike.

Kemar Roach could be a real threat just because of his pace through the air. Bangladesh's openers will have to see him off. Though, I think one of them will come out swinging.

"Once again Tamim Iqbal has to step up to the plate, and perform well because from Bangladesh side he is the only player who can give some quick lift," says Shaheen. This could well be a tale of two openers. Tamim and Gayle.

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Toss, 14.00: The pitch is expected to be slow and low. It has several cracks. A massive roar at the Shere Bangla as Bangladesh win the toss and bat. Shakib says he was pleased with the way his bowlers defended an average total against Ireland. He wants them to do it again. He'll want more than an average score though.

Bangladesh are playing an unchanged side from the Ireland game. Darren Sammy said he wanted to bat as well. West Indies are also playing an unchanged team from the one that beat Netherlands.

13.50: Good day and welcome to ESPNcricinfo's coverage of a crucial Group B encounter in Mirpur. Shakib may have said this isn't a must-win game but victory for Bangladesh against West Indies will do wonders for their quarter-final chances.

The toss is at 14.00. There's a fair degree of intrigue in Group B with Ireland beating England and opening up several new possibilities.

Ah, here's an opening comment from a familiar name. "This should be interesting. Ireland will be really disappointed at not beating Bangladesh and will be confident that they have the measure of the West Indies," says Mark Kidger. "If Bangladesh win, they are just about in the Quarter Finals and that West Indies v Ireland match will become a knock-out. If the West Indies win, you can pick any team apart from The Netherlands to qualify from the group."